Type holder strip and type holding accessory therefor



Jan. 30, 1962 H. J. DEVON ETAL 3,018,728

TYPE HOLDER STRIP AND TYPE HOLDING ACCESSORY THEREFOR Filed March 21, 1960 2 INVENTORS Harry J. Devo n 8 y Charles H.Dav|s their ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,018,728 TYPE HDLDER STRIP AND TYPE HOLDDIG AOCESSQRY THEREFOR Harry Devon, Pittsburgh, and tCharles H. Davis, Monroevitle, Par, assignors to .ias. H. Matthews as (10., Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania riled Mar. 21, 196i), Ser. No. 1o,455 6 Claims. (Ci. 101-331) This invention relates to a holder for holding a series of letters or printing type or the like, and more particularly to a holder having means for keeping the type in posltion in the holder and a holding device for use with the holder.

This invention will be particularly described in connection with printing type, and more especially printing type formed of plastic, but this is by way of illustration, and the invention may be used in other environments where a series of letters or other characters must be held in a predetermined position on a support.

Printing apparatus has heretofore been developed especially designed for use with type made of a thermosetting plastic material. The type so used comprises a base in the form of a block having straight edges and a flat surface at the back. The letter or other character is raised above the plane of the front surface. Such letters or other characters are commonly mounted in a plastic strip in the form or" a channel having inwardly-turned overhanging top edges. The channel is of a Width such that the type blocks may be slid into the channel from an end. The

overhanging top edges of the channel extend over the edges of the type blocks, while the printing character or letter projects to a level above the channel. The back surfaces of the blocks bear against the web of the channel. The fit between the blocks and the channel is a snug fit so that while the blocks may be slid endwise into and out of the channel, they are held firmly in place so that they cannot move relatively to one another or to the channel during the time that the letters or characters are being used for printing.

However, difficulty has heretofore been encountered in holding the individual type characters or blocks tightly pressed against one another to hold them .in proper position lengthwise of the channel or holder in which they are mounted, and in keeping them from separating one from another, but which, at the same time, will enable the characters to be removed at will.

The present invention has for its object to provide a holder and clip, and more especially a clip for use in the holder which may be slipped into the holder after the type has been arranged in position in the holder, one of these clips being entered into the holder from each end. These clips can be pressed against the endmost printing blocks being slidable freely in a direction toward the blocks. However they will automatically grip the holder so that they cannot move endwise along the holder or channel away from the blocks either through vibration or accidentally and can only be removw by manual operation.

More especially our invention has for its object to provide a clip for use in holders of the type described which can be easily slid in one direction along the holder but which cannot be removed in the reverse direction without manual manipulation of the clip. A further object of the invention is to provide such a clip which may be used repeatedly which is relatively inexpensive and which can be easily and conveniently used.

These and other objects and advantages are secured by our invention as may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a type holder or type holding strip showing individual printing characters arranged therein and showing one form of clip embodying the present invention in the holder pressing against the ends of the blocks to prevent endwise movement of the series of type blocks;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the clips removed from the holder;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of one form of spanner key or device for use in releasing the clips when they are to be removed;

'FIG. 4 is a plan view of another form of clip;

'FIG. is an end view of a type bar holder as shown in FIG. 1 "showing another form of tool for use with the clip of FIG. 4 in position for use in removing the clip;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of still another form of clip; and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the holder showing the clip of FIG. 6 therein.

Referring to the drawings the type holder is of the same construction in FIGS. 1, 5 and 7 and similar reference nu.- merals have been used to indicate the corresponding parts. The holder which is customarily made of plastic is of a strip of channel section with the top edges of the channel turned inwardly. In the drawing the holder is designated generally as 2. It has a flat bottom web 3 and has upturned sides 4. The top edges 5 of the sides 4 are turned inwardly to overhang the marginsof the web 3. These bars or holders 2 may be formed of plastic or of metal. The printing characters or type or other elements to be held in position in the holder comprise a base block 6 having straight side edges and straight end edges. The back surface of each block is fiat and the block is of a dimension such that it may be slid into one end of the holder 2 and moved lengthwise to the position desired. The inturned edges or lips 5 overhang the top surface of the blocks, and the width of the space between the upturned sides 4 of the holder and the dimension of the blocks is such that the two end edges of the blocks are firmly engage/i against the sides 4 of the holder. The fit is a snug fit, so that while the blocks 6 may slide along the channel and be held against movement in a direction normal to the plane of the Web 3, they have no play for relative motion one to another. The blocks 2 may carry some prinitng character such as a letter 7 raised above the top surface of the base block. These letters or printing characters, being raised above the surface of the block, project well above the inturned flanges 5. Consequently their surfaces may be brought into contact with an inking roller or inking pad, and then applied against a carton or other object to be marked, and only the top surfaces of the type will engage the object to be printed upon.

So much of the construction as has been described is presently known to the art and forms no part per se of our present invention. However, it is desirable from time to time to change the printing characters or letters in the holder, and to hold them firmly against endwise movement in the holder, except when it is desired to deliberately remove them or separate them. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a clip, designated generally as 10, which may be stamped or otherwise formed from sheet metal, and the metal employed should be of a somewhat resilient character. The thickness of the metal is such that the clip can be entered into one end of the holder and slid endwise along the holder on the web 3, and be confined between the web and the overhanging flanges 5. However, the metal of the clips need not be as thick as the base of the type blocks, and is preferably thinner.

The clip ltl is a bifurcated structure having substantially parallel longitudinally-extending legs 11 and 12. These legs are connected at one end by a cross bar 13, and the opposite endsof the legs 11 and 12 are separated from each other. Extending rearwardly from the leg 12 is an extension 14 at the outer end of which is a cross bar 15 which is spaced slightly from the cross bar 13. The cross bar 15 is thus attached to the main structure of the clip at one end only, and there is a space 16 between the bars 13 and 15. The type block-engaging edge of the clip is the edge marked 15a of the bar 15.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the free end of the arm 11 has a terminal portion 17 in the shape of a ratchet tooth or barb having one edge 17a sloped from the tip or the point of the tooth toward the center line of the clip and toward the right-hand end of the clip as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, this sloped edge being at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the leg 11 on which it is carried. The barb projects outwardly beyond the outermost edge of the leg 11 on which it is formed. The barb or tooth 17 has a straight edge 17b extending from the tip of the tooth toward the center line of the clip at approximately right angles to the longitudinal axis of the clip. In other words, the two edges defining the point intersect at an acute angle.

The other leg 12 of the clip has a widened terminal portion 18 confronting the terminal portion 17, but spaced from it. Thi widened portion 18 is provided with an areuately-curved slot 19, the inner end portion 19a of this slot being slightly enlarged as best seen in FIG. 1. One side of this slot 19, marked 19b, may constitute a cam surface as hereinafter more fully pointed out. The terminal portion 17 of the leg 11 is provided with a hole 20 therethrough, which is across from the arcuate slot 19.

Since the clip is formed of a resilient material, preferably metal, the legs 11 and 12 of the clip may be flexed transversely of the longitudinal axis of the clip toward and away from each other. Normally they tend to spring apart to a very slight extent, the Width of the clip in a transverse direction being such that when the end bar 15 of the clip is entered in the holder 2 and shoved endwise along the holder, the sloping edge 17a of the ratchet-like tooth or barb 17 will contact one of the upstanding edges 4 of the channel, flexing the toothed end of the arm 11 inwardly toward the center line of the clip against the inherent resilience of the clip. As long as the clip is moving in a direction where the sloped edge 17a of the tooth is the leading edge of the tooth, the clip can he slid in the holder. However, if any attempt is made to reverse the movement of the clip, the inherent resilience of the clip causes the tip of the tooth 17 to project against the side edge 4 of the holder, and the greater the pressure applied for moving the clip, the harder the tooth 17 presses against the side wall 4 which it contacts to resist such movement.

Thus after a series of printing blocks or other characters have been slid into the holder and have been brought to the position where it is desired to use them in the holder, one of the clips is pushed into the holder from each end, the clip on the left-hand end being reversed with respect to the one on the right-hand end, so that in each case the free ends of the legs 11 and 12 point toward the nearest open end of the holder. Hence, while the clips may he slid from the open end of the holder strip toward the row of type blocks, they cannot be moved in the reverse direction. The clips are pushed toward the type blocks until their respective cross bars 15 bear against the bases of the two outermost elements of the row of type, one of the clips bearing against the left-hand blocks, and the other one against the right-hand blocks. In this way the type blocks are held against endwise movement in the holder, and all of the parts are held in fixed relation to one another.

To remove the type, a key or spanner wrench similar to that shown in FIG. 3 is used. This key, designated generally as 21, has a shank portion 22, and a handle or wing portion 23 to enable the device to be held firmly between the fingers. At the free end of the shank 22 are two projecting similar pins 24 and 25. In use, one of these pins, for example 24, is entered into the hole on the terminal of the leg 11, and the distance from the pin 24 to the pin 25 is equal to the normal distance from the hole 20 to the end 19c of the curved slot 19. The other pin 25 is entered into the end of the slot 19. The key is then turned while the pins 24 and 25 are thus engaged in the clip, and as the pin 25 rides along the arcuate camming surface 19b of the slot 19, the terminal 17 on the leg 11 will be pulled toward the terminal 18, thereby moving the tip of the ratchet tooth away from the adjacent side wall 4 of the channel, and while the clip is thus squeezed, the key provides a handle for sliding the clip along the holder and out the end of the holder. The little enlargement 19a at one end of the arcuate slot 19 is such that when the pins, such as the pin 25 on the key reaches this enlargement, it will be very slightly restrained in this position so that the key will then tend to hold the arms in compressed position. In other words, the little enlargement 19a at the end of the slot 19 provides a slight detent which makes it easier to hold the key against reverse rotation.

The invention thu provides a holding clip for use with the type holding bar or channel which may be moved along the channel in a direction toward the type blocks to be held, and pushed firmly against the type blocks, but which will automatically lock against any accidental or deliberate attempt to move it in the reverse direction until the free terminals of the legs 11 and 12 are sprung toward each other, that is, the part 17 moved relatively toward the part 18.

The clip as here described has two legs which are generally parallel with the sides of the type holding channel, or which extend in a generally longitudinal direction, joined together at one end by a cross bar, and having terminal portions at their free ends, one of which terminals provides an outwardly-projecting ratchet tooth, and the other of which in the structure shown in FIG. 1 provides the camming slot 19. These terminal elements, or the hole and slot, provide means to facilitate moving the free end of the legs toward each other. The cross bar 15 is provided to bear against the side edge of the type block which it contacts, and the purpose of the space 16 i merely to space the cross bar 13 and the cross bar 15. If they are not separated, it would be more difl'icult to flex the free terminal of the legs toward each other, and there would be less tendency for them to spring apart under their own resilience.

In the modification shown in FIG. 4, the clip is used in the same way and is quite similar to the construction shown in FIG. 2. The clip here shown is designated generally as 26. and it has two longitudinally-extending legs 27 and 28 connected by a cross bar portion 29 corresponding to part 13. Spaced beyond the cross bar 29 and connected to the clip by an extension 30 at one side of the clip is a cross bar 31 similar to the member 15. The free terminal of the leg 27 has a ratchet tooth 32 thereon, projecting outwardly beyond the outer edge of the leg 27 and similar to the barb or ratchet tooth 17 of FIG. 2. There is a hole 34 through the terminal portion of the leg 27. The leg 28 has a terminal portion 35 at its free end confronting the free end of the leg 27, and there is a hole 36 through this terminal portion. The hole 35 is transversely across from the hole 34.

This clip is used in the same way as the one described in FIG. 2, the only difference being that whereas FIG. 2 has a hole 20 at the terminal of the leg 11 and an arcuate slot 19 in the opposite terminal, the clip in FIG. 4 has a hole through each terminal. For removing this clip a tool is used which can have a point projected into each of the holes 34 and 36, and then operated to draw the free ends of the legs of the clips toward each other to release the pressure of the tooth 33 against the side wall of the channel in which it is located.

One satisfactory form of tool is shown in FIG. 5, and comprises a plier or pincer-like tool designated generally as 37. It has two jaws 38 and 39 movable about a pivotal connection 40. Beyond the pivot the jaws are extended into handle portions 38a and 39a respectively.

The tips of the jaws 33- and 39 terminate in points 38b and 39b respectively, which can be entered into the holes 34 and 36 of the clip, as clearly indicated in FIG. 5.

As here shown, the jaw 39 has pivotally connected thereto a yoke 41 which passes around the jaw 38, and which carries a set screw 42 that bears against the outer edge of the jaw 38 so that the two points 38b and 3% may be opened to the exact distance required to enter the holes 34 and 36. With the points so entered in the holes of the clip, the handles 38a and 3% are squeezed to draw the free terminals of the two legs 27 and 28 toward each other and release the hook or barb 33 from the side wall of the channel.

In FIG. 6 the clip is again shown as being of the same general construction, but it is arranged to be operated without any tool such as the tool 21 in FIG. 3 or the tool 37 in FIG. 5. In the construction shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the clip has upper and lower legs 45 and 46 connected at one end by a cross bar 47. There is an extension 48 at one end of the leg 46 with a second cross bar 49 attached thereto similar in constnuction to the cross bar 15, the bars 49 and 47 being separated from each other, except through the connection provided by the connection 48. The leg 45 has a sloped ratchet-like tooth or barb 50 thereon similar to the barb 17 on the outer end of the leg 11 in FIG. 2. The leg 45, however, has a forwardly and inwardly-projecting extension 51 thereon which terminates in spaced relation to the terminal of the arm 46, and this extension 51 has a lug 52 projecting therefrom in a plane normal to the plane of the clip. This lug extends to a height above the arm 51 such that it may be engaged with the tip of ones finger or finger nail, but it does. not project high enough to be in the plane of the surface of the type in the holder in which the clip is used. If desired, the leg 46 may have an extension 53 with a lug 54 similar to lug 52. Where this is done, the two lugs may be pressed toward each other with ones fingers to release its clip.

The advantage of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6 is that it can be operated without using any tool or key. It may be more desirable to use this particular construction Where frequent change of the type is not necessary, or where the type holder is used in some directory, bulletin board, or display device where the letters are changed less frequently, or where the letters are large to provide adequate lugs to be engaged by ones fingers.

While we have shown and described the invention particularly in connection with plastic strip holders for plastic itype, the invention as indicated above is not restricted to such use and may be used with various printing characters,

letters, display devices or the like, where a series of individual blocks are to be held against endwise movement in a channel-like holder as here described. The clip provides a longitudinally-adjustable abutment that can move easily in one direction, but cannot, without deliberate manual operation to release it, be moved in the reverse direction.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the particular construction and arrangement of parts within the contemplation of our invention and under the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A clip for holding character elements in position in a holder of channel form, the holder having parallel sides with inwardly-turned lips at the top thereof for retaining block-like elements in the holder, said clip having parallel legs attached at one end to a transverse connector portion with the legs and connector portion being in a common plane, one leg having a ratchet-like barb at one end projecting laterally therefrom, the barb being sloped to permit the clip to slide in one direction when it is inserted in the holder, but resist movement in the opposite direction, said legs being resiliently movable toward each other for releasing the barb from engagement with the holder.

2. A clip for holding character elements in position in a holder of channel form, the holder having parallel sides with inwardly-turned lips at the top thereof for retaining block-like elements in the holder, said clip having parallel legs attached at one end to a transverse connector portion with the legs and connector portion being in a common plane, one leg having a ratchet-like barb at one end projecting laterally therefrom, the barb being sloped to permit the clip to slide in one direction when it is inserted in the holder, but resist movement in the opposite direction, and means on at least one of the legs for flexing it toward the other.

3. A clip of the class described comprising a bifurcated body of resilient metal having longitudinally-extending leg elements connected at one end by an integral connector portion, one leg having a ratchet-like pointed barb on the outer edge thereof near its free end, the said barb having one edge that slopes inwardly toward the longitudinal center line of the body and toward the connector portion, the barb having its other edge forming an acute angle at the point with the aforesaid sloping edge, the barb-carrying leg being resiliently flexible toward the other.

4. A clip of the class described comprising a bifurcated body of resilient metal having longitudinally-extending leg elements connected at one end by an integral connector portion, one leg having a ratchet-like pointed barb on the outer edge thereof near its free end, the said barb having one edge that slopes inwardly toward the longitudinal center line of the body and toward the connector portion, the barb having its other edge forming an acute angle at the point with the aforesaid sloping edge, and means near the terminal of one leg to facilitate flexing said terminal toward the terminal of the other leg.

5. A clip of the class described comprising an integral member formed of resilient material having a pair of spaced longitudinally-ex-tending legs joined at one end by a connecting portion, said legs being biased to spring away from each other but being resiliently flexible for movement toward each other, a pointed ratchet-like barb on the outer edge of one leg, the point being an acute angle point with one edge only sloping lengthwise and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the leg on which it is carried, and means on said legs to facilitate squeezing them toward each other.

6. A clip of the class described comprising an integral member formed of resilient material having a pair of spaced longitndinally-extending legs joined at one end by a connecting portion, said legs being biased to spring away from each other but being resiliently flexible for movement toward each other, a pointed ratchet-like barb on the outer edge of one leg, the point being an acute angle point with one edge only sloping lengthwise and inwardly at an obtuse angle to the leg on which it is carried, the clip having a cross bar at the end on which the connecting portion is formed, said cross bar being spaced from the connecting portion and being joined to the clip at one end only.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent 1,083,711 Trundle Ian. 6, 1914 

